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Ellis Parker Butler
Ellis Parker Butler (December 5, 1869 – September 13, 1937) was an American poet, prose author, and humorist. Life Overview He is most famous for his short story "Pigs Is Pigs", in which a bureaucratic stationmaster insists on levying the livestock rate for a shipment of 2 pet guinea pigs, which soon start proliferating exponentially. His most famous character was Philo Gubb. Youth and education Butler was born in Muscatine, Iowa, the oldest of 8 children of Adela (Vesey) and Audley Gazzam Butler, a pork packery. He wrote his first poetry at 6 years of age, and published his first short story (in the school journal) at 13. He attended Muscatine High School, but dropped out at 17 to help support his family.Dennis Wepman, Butler, Ellis Parker, American National Biography Online. Web, Oct. 31, 2015. Career He moved to New York City and lived in Flushing, Queens. He was the author of more than 30 books and more than 2,000 stories and essays. His career spanned more than 40 years, and his stories, poems, and articles were published in more than 225 magazines. He wrote 25 stories for Woman's Home Companion between 1906 and 1935. The stories in the Companion were illustrated by artists including May Wilson Preston, Frederic Dorr Steele, Herbert Paus, and Rico Le Brun. Between 1931 and 1936, at least 17 of Butler's stories published in newspapers were illustrated by Ethel Hays. Despite the enormous volume of his work, Butler was, for most of his life, only a part-time author. He worked full-time as a banker and was very active in his local community. A founding member of both the Dutch Treat Club and the Author's League of America, Butler was an always-present force in the New York City literary scene. He died in Williamsville, Massachusetts, and was interred in Flushing Cemetery. Publications Play *''The Revolt: A play in one act. New York: Samuel French, 1912. Novels *The Incubator Baby'' (illustrated by May Wilson Preston). New York & London: Funk & Wagnalls, 1906. *''Kilo : being the love story of Eliph ̓Hewlitt, book agent. New York: McClure, 1907; London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1907; Toronto: Musson, 1907. *''The Great American Pie Company. New York: McClure, Phillips, 1907; Toronto: Musson, 1907. *''The Cheerful Smugglers'' (illustrated by May Wilson Preston). New York: Century, 1908 *''The Jack-Knife Man''. New York: Century, 1913. *''Red Head and Whistle Breeches. New York: Bancroft, 1915. *Dominie Dean: A novel. New York, Chicago, Toronto, London, & Edinburgh: Fleming H. Revell, 1917. *In Pawn. Boston & New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1921. Short fiction *''Pigs is Pigs. Chicago: Railway Appliance Co.; New York: McClure, 1906; London: George Newnes, 1906. *''Perkins of Portland: Perkins the great. Boston: Herbert S. Turner 1906; **published in UK as ''Mr. Perkins of Portland. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1906; Toronto: Copp Clark, 1906. *''Mike Flannery, on Duty and off. New York: Doubleday, Page, 1909. *The Thin Santa Claus: The chicken yard that was a Christmas stocking'' (illustrated by May Wilson Preston). New York & London: Doubleday, Page, 1909. *''The Water Goats, and other troubles. New York: Doubleday, Page, 1910. *The Adventures of a Suburbanite'' (illustrated by A.B. Phelan). Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Page, 1911. *''Philo Gubb, Correspondence-School Detective. Boston & New York: Houghton Mifflin / Cambridge, MA: Riverside Press, 1918. *''The Behind Legs of the 'orse, and other stories. New York & Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1927. *''Pigs is Pigs, and other favorites''. New York: Dover, 1966. Non-fiction *''Goat-Feathers. Boston & New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1919. *How it Feels to be Fifty. Boston & New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1920. Juvenile *The Confessions of a Daddy'' (illustrated by Fanny Y. Corey). New York : Century, 1907; London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1907. *''That Pup. New York: McClure, 1908. *''Jibby Jones; a story of Mississippi River adventure for boys. Boston & New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1923. *''Swatty: A story of real boys. Boston & New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1928. *''Jo-ann, Tomboy. Boston & New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1933. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Ellis Parker Butler, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Oct. 31, 2015. See also *List of U.S. poets References External links ;Poems *"October" *Ellis Parker Butler at PoemHunter (74 poems) *Ellis Parker Butler at AllPoetry (75 poems) *Ellis Parker Butler at Poems 007 *Ellis Parker Butler at Poetry Cat ;Prose *"The Crimson Cord" ;Books * *ebooks of works by Ellis Parker Butler at Project Gutenberg Australia ;Audio / video *Ellis Parker Butler works at LibriVox * Online movie of "Pigs is Pigs" produced by the Adam Smith Academy (This link may be out of date.) *Ellis Parker Butler at YouTube * podcast of many Ellis Parker Butler stories and poems, indexed for convenience ;About *Butler, Ellis Parker in American National Biography Online *Butler, Ellis Parker in the Biographical Dictionary of Iowa *Ellis Parker Butler at the Des Moines Register *Ellis Parker Butler at the Internet Movie Database *Ellis Parker Butler Official website. ;Etc. *Papers of Ellis Parker Butler at the University of Iowa Category:1869 births Category:1937 deaths Category:American humorists Category:American short story writers Butler, Ellis Category:People from Muscatine, Iowa Category:American novelists Category:20th-century poets Category:American poets Category:English-language poets Category:Poets